4 gruesome Halloween makeup tips from film industry makeup artists

When it comes to Halloween fancy dress, makeup is key to a good costume. Sure, there are loads of easy beauty accessories like batwing lashes and black lipstick out there, but some outfits require special effects (and skills). Well, to help the novices like ourselves, we quizzed the tutors from the Iver Academy, a makeup school based at Pinewood Studios who have won BAFTAs and EMMYs for their amazing work. Here are their tips for doing easy fancy dress with your face:

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1. Keep it really simple

"Creating a skeleton look using black, white and grey face paint is a good place to start. The 'day of the dead' look from the new James Bond Spectre movie can be easily achieved with face paints bought from a fancy dress or party store (kids face paints are inexpensive and are readily available at most party shops). A helpful tip is to keep 3 or 4 good brushes of different widths at hand - these can be from an art shop as they don't have to be professional brushes - and cotton buds to apply makeup. Just be careful with some joke shop blood as it can stain."

"This tutorial [below] is a good example because it is simple. You only need a few basic colours meaning it won't break the bank to buy the face paints and recreate it, and it doesn't have any complicated painting techniques."

2. The easiest prosthetic technique to try

"Easy prosthetic techniques to do at home are what is known in the industry as 'out of box' effects. These can be created by using products to make a 3D effect, which can look like the skin is open or raised. There are a number of professional silicon based products (try PAM, see below) or if you want to get something from the high street, moulding wax can be found in party or costume shops."

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3. How to actually do injuries and wounds

"Injuries and wounds can be easily created on the skin with fake blood applied on top. A quick and easy trick is to use eyelash glue and tissue paper to make skin look 'zombie-esque'. Apply a thin layer of lash glue such as Duo Medical Adhesive, tear a tissue so that it has only one layer and no straight edges and lay it onto the glue. Then paint a second layer of glue over the top. The effect can be repeated over all areas and gives the appearance of ancient skin. A grey tone makeup can then be washed over the top. To remove it, soak off in warm water."

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4. Where to buy products to play with

"Face and body paints from Paradise great. They have good pigment and apply really smoothly. If you want to be more adventurous you need to go to the pro make-up stores such as PAM. They also have some great tutorials on their website!"